THX 1138 meets Coma '78

Rating: 5/10 (24 July 2005)

Didn't George Lucas do this one back in his college days? It didn't entertain much then, doesn't do much better in this re-do. A real let down considering Michael Bay's history. Maybe the studio was trying to squeeze a few extra bucks out of the Armageddon and Rock guy. Could have been cut 30 minutes and wouldn't have noticed. Starts off well but fades, tempo jumps too much starting about halfway through. Went from rotating long shots of our heroes after escaping the facility to jerky "action" shots (for that simulator feel) then half-speed to milk the car flips and explosions, a couple of which were original. I'm going to assume Bruckhiemer may have suggested getting them out of the box earlier, with a few friends in tow, to spend more time learning what the "real" world and people are like. This would have given it less of a THX 1138 feel and seemed more plausible later at the end of the film. Michael Clark Duncan was used way too sparingly as the token black guy. Sorry, but the message seems to be if you're black in the future you're still only rich if you're a pro-sports guy. Seeing Neelix (Ethan Phillips) without the Mohawk and makeup was interesting, he's a pretty good actor when he has good dialog. Steve Buscemi would have been good to have around a while longer too. The "mail-order" clothing gag could have been milked a little more. How about Scarlett and Ewan with a' la Family Guy Lois and Peter (i.e.; "the safety word is "). Let's not forget the product placement; you know the pseudo- subliminal advertising in movies. Hey it's the bleeding "Mid-21st Century" why are Microsoft, Johnny Rockets, Puma, MSN, Cadillac, Calvin Klein, etc., etc. still using the same old Logos? Have advertisers in the future run out of new ideas too? Microqsuish seems to have a new one every few years? Over all the cast did a great job keeping their characters believable but the action at times was borderline laughable. The high point being a 60 story fall holding onto a giant letter R (Reebok must have pulled out late in production) which happens to fall on top of the helicopter that's suppose to be shooting DOWN at them. Then the logo smashes through scaffolding before hanging up in a safety net designed to hold people not several thousand pounds of steel. Oh and then the obligatory "love" scene near the end of the movie just in case you missed the affections Ewan and Scarlett made clear earlier with their acting. Look for the "R-rated" scenes most certainly to show- up on the second "Directors Cut" DVD (more corporate dribble). The only redeeming message seems to be that somewhere in the future that open borders thing in California seemed to get fixed. Either that or the now rich Hispanics go back to Mexico and South America and overthrow their corrupt governments and find a way restore their economies. One final note, the flying jet bikes were kewl.